Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Women's Rights

Lately I've been wanting to know that I could kick someone's ass if I needed to, particularly if someone was assaulting me or anyone near me. Images of Demi Moore's and Angelina Jolie's bad-ass movie roles come to mind. I want to know that I have the skill and power to bring an attacker to his knees. I'm 5'4" and throw like a girl, so acquiring this strength and these takedown tactics would require a tremendous amount of discipline and a lot of workouts! But oh, to know that I could wail on someone if they messed with me...

That sort of brings me to something that's been on my mind of late. Every time I hear reports of women in other countries being assaulted, raped, groped, and generally mistreated by men, I feel such incredible sadness and moral outrage. It disturbs me and sickens me to the core. Mistreatment of women is apparently outrageously commonplace in many countries. I lament and grieve that entire cultures breed men who learn this disrespect and violence and get away with it. I would really like to find some reading about how and why this happens and what can be done about it. It's not only a matter of empowering women, though that is surely part of the solution. There are centuries-old political, economic, social, cultural forces that factor into the equation. I wonder if there's any way I could be a miniscule part of bringing about much-needed change in places where women do not get through life without being assaulted, violated or raped. I would very much like to find out which organizations are working toward change in specific countries and find out if there is any way I can participate in empowering women and men to respect each other's bodies and lives. Human dignity, security, well-being, human rights--worth working and fighting for.